William
Blake, in his poem “The Four Zoas: a Dream of Nine Nights,”
tells of God’s fall into division and his resurrection to unity
- his fall into generation, decay, and death and his resurrection
into the unity of the one Father. Associating his poem with the 6th
chapter of Ephesians, the 12th verse, he states: “We wrestle
not with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in heavenly places.” So we see that the fall into
division and the resurrection into unity is mental.

From
beginning to end, the Bible speaks of a certain temple that is being
constructed. And every day we are building our temple for the
dwelling place of God the Father. In the 2nd chapter of the Book of
Ephesians, we are told: “The whole structure is joined together
and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built
into it as a living structure of God in the Spirit.” In other
words, as you bring your building and I bring mine, we are fitted
together as living stones in the building of God.

Let me
explain this with a story told me just this past week. This is an
experience of a lady who is very much a lady and only recently had a
little baby. She said: “In my dream I am three people. I am
myself, yet I am a man. As myself, I long for a little green dog.
Becoming another, I see my dog standing among others. He shines like
the sun and because I have ordered him I know all I have to do is
wait for his arrival.

“Now, in my dream I am always the
sender. When something is to be told, I tell it to another (which is
myself), then I become the other in order to retell the story to the
third. Becoming the third, I then tell the second to tell the first.
I know it doesn’t make sense on this level, but as the third
person speaking, I hear the message as the second, and say to myself
- the first: ‘The dog is yours now.’ And as the first I
am so happy to hear the news.

“Again as the third
person, I tell the second to say to the first: ‘Your building
is finished. All you have to do is turn around to take it.’ Now
as the first person, my little dog disappears and I am looking at my
many new buildings being constructed. Then I remember that my
building is finished and all I have to do is turn around and claim it
- when my little baby cries and awakens me.”

On the
surface her vision appears to be nothing, but it has tremendous
significance. Her green dog shining like the sun is Caleb in
scripture. Caleb is he who goes with Joshua into the Promised Land.
In the story, Caleb - having faith in the God who promised Israel
land - was sent by Moses along with other spies into Canaan. Upon
returning, Caleb said: “Attack immediately” but the men
who had gone with him were afraid; so only the two, Caleb and Joshua
(the Hebraic form of the word “Jesus”), entered.

In
her dream she is waiting for a little green dog. The word “green”
in this dream means “pressing with sap; luscious; health.”
Bursting with all that is mine, I will take you to lie down in green
pastures. Full of faith in the God who promised land to Israel, Caleb
is highly recommended, as only two can enter. Others had the dog and
others will find him, for she is not the only one who enters the
promised land. Now, who was waiting for his companion? God! As the
third, the second is told and tells the first that the dog is now
hers. Then the experience is repeated, as she once more becomes the
sender (the teller), but she is never the receiver, for God only acts
and is in existing beings or men.

Now, as the first person she
realizes that the little dog has disappeared. Why? Because she has
already entered the promised land. Seeing the fabulous construction
going on, she is reminded that her building is finished and all she
had to do is turn around and see it. There are two passages in
scripture, one in the 12th chapter of Acts and the other in the 15th
chapter of Luke, where the Greek word “heautou” is
translated “he came to himself.” In the Book of Luke
these words were spoken of the prodigal son. And in the Book of Acts,
Peter was imprisoned and shackled in chains. His garments were sold
and he was alone in the cell, when the angel of the Lord entered,
touched him, and as he rose, it is said: “he came to himself.”
Now, this word “heautou” could have been translated, “he
turned around; it is fulfilled; it is finished; to be married.”
And she heard the words: “All you need to do is turn around.”
Turn around and you will behold the finished structure. As a living
stone you have now contributed to the overall structure, which is the
temple of the Living God. I know from my own experience, everyone
contributes to that one Living Stone called the kingdom of heaven!
You will be turned around by a force that is greater than anything
known to man, but it will not happen until the end. You cannot
physically turn around, nor can you force the mind to do it.

Now,
Blake tells us: “God fell into division” and this lady
divided herself into three. Now heading for the end of the journey,
when the force that is holding you to this world is relieved, you
will turn around to see the structure your Father built and you will
know that you are He. Your temple is not built by another. “He
who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day
of Jesus Christ.” Who is he? I am he who began the good work in
you. “I have tried you in the furnaces of affliction. For my
own sake I do it, for my own sake, for how should my name be
profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” Your journey is
at its end, my dear. You saw the perfect vision. Your building is
finished and all you have to do is turn around. This will come at the
end, for if you should turn around you will vanish, for, like Paul,
you have fought the good fight. Let no one tell you Paul was
exaggerating; it is a fight, for we are contending not with flesh and
blood.

At the present moment someone is treading the wine
press of hate, and - unrestrained - the thought is sent on its wings
of feeling. Perhaps sitting in a dungeon this night, someone is
treading the wine press of war, and some little boy out in the field
catches the idea and wanting to be a hero dreams of becoming a great
general, commanding the destruction of the world. He is dreaming and
you can’t stop his dream. So you are not warring against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers and spiritual
wickedness in heavenly places, and heaven is within. In the inside of
your mind these abominable, loathsome beings are carved. They are
unseen forces impinging upon you morning, noon, and night.

But
oh, what a thrill to get a letter of this nature! Her building is
finished. She now knows that she only sends! She gave the order, saw
herself as another, receiving, but when the message must be retold
she once more became the teller. And when it is to be experienced,
she will be the one who experiences it. So God only acts and is in
existing beings or men, for God is playing all the parts.

In
the end everyone brings his living temple to the house of God.
Ephesians tells us how the structure is joined together and how the
holy temple grows in the Spirit. It’s a spiritual temple, not
one in this world. Scripture calls the church “the body of
Christ”, but the word translated “church” is
“communion of the assemblage of the redeemed.” It’s
the assemblage of those whose building is finished. Playing the part
of the receiver, we are the one being who is the builder. Finding
Caleb, you (as Joshua, who is Jesus) are led into the Promised Land,
as scripture is fulfilled. Having shone like the sun in order to lead
you in, Caleb disappears leaving Jesus only. And who is Jesus? Your
own wonderful human imagination!

Now let me share another
story. Three years ago, in a dream, this lady saw a man who embodied
everything she could ever desire. They fell in love and an engagement
was announced. Then, thinking she was awake, she put on her nightgown
and retired in the hope that he would join her. But as he entered the
room the man shook his head and said: “Not yet, but I will
return.” This month the same man returned and implied by his
look that he had come to complete the promise of marriage. I can tell
her that, although it hasn’t been accomplished, she had the
perfect revelation of that which is coming to her. She now has the
assurance that: “I will come again and receive you into myself,
that where I am there, you shall be also.” This is all
beautiful symbolism. This lady is not about to be married in this
world of ours to a flesh and blood man of such magnitude. No, he is
the symbol of the being spoken of in Isaiah: “Your maker is
your husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name.” The promise is
being kept in her. and one day she will turn around within herself
and become that living temple of the Risen Lord.

I have seen
the temple, and when I leave the garment relative to this age I will
enter an entirely different age. And like Paul it is my desire to
depart and be with Christ, but it is more important at the moment to
remain and encourage you, even though you are fighting against
principalities, powers of darkness, and all the horrors of the world.
But I have seen the building being constructed for you, not by
another, but by your deeper self, who is God the Father.

In
1952, while living in New York City, I had a thirst that only an
experience of God could quench. “As the hart panteth after the
waterways, so panteth my soul after thee, Oh God.” Then one
night out of the blue I found myself fulfilling the 42nd Psalm:
“These things I remember, as I pour out my soul. How I went
with the throng and led them in procession to the house of
God.”

That night I found myself leading an enormous
procession toward the house of God. It was still in the distance, but
as I led them a voice rang out: “And God walks with them.”
A woman at my side questioned the voice, saying: “If God walks
with us, where is he?” And the voice replied: “At your
side.” Looking at me and seeing a man of flesh and blood, she
said: “You mean Neville is God?” and the voice replied:
“Yes, in the act of waking.” Then the voice spoke only to
me, saying: “I laid myself down within you to sleep and as I
slept I dreamed a dream. I dreamed…” and suddenly I knew
that he was dreaming he was me. At that moment memory returned, and I
became six vortices, which I felt enter my hands, my feet, my head,
and my side. That was when I knew the ecstasy of the
crucifixion.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, divided the
tenses, saying: “If we have been united with him in a death
like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection
like his.” The crucifixion is past. “He chose us in him
before the foundation of the world.” If this is true, then the
universal Christ gave us himself, for did he not say: “No man
takes my life, I lay it down myself. I have the power to lay it down
and the power to lift it up again.” And we are laid down with
him, because he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.
So, if you are united with him in a death like his, you will
certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. I know this
is true, for he was resurrected in me, confirming the story of
scripture. This is how the structure is enhanced and grows in God.
And when the final curtain comes down and the temple is perfect, you
will be God the Father and I will be God the Father, yet none of us
will lose our identity!

Now I ask you to continue to test your
creative power by practicing revision. If you hear something that is
unlovely, don’t accept it, but instantly revise it. Hear the
words that ought to have been spoken and persuade yourself, to the
best of your ability, that it is so. What would it matter if you
owned the world tonight and departed tomorrow to find yourself
working as a fry cook, serving up flap cakes? Live your life fully
while here, but remember you can’t take your money with
you.

So, enjoy the things of this world and apply this
wonderful law for yourself and others, for imagining truly does
create reality. And remember: you are not wrestling against flesh and
blood, but against principalities and powers and darkness of the
rulers of this world and spiritual evil in heavenly places. And one
day, you who have fallen into division will resurrect into
unity!